Antique Golf Clubs from Scotland: Clubmakers

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Clubmakers

Joseph Dalgliesh
Nairn
Born in East Lothian, at Aberlady, supposedly in 1860, the son of a coachman, John Dalgliesh and his wife, Margaret, née Ness, the year of birth is suspect. At the time of the 1861 census John is dead and Margaret is described as a pauper living with four children, Joseph being the youngest, aged two, which would have him born in 1859. The same applies in 1871 when he is still in Aberlady, the last child living with his mother who is now working as a seamstress.

I have not found a birth certificate for him but, when he was working as a joiner and married Margaret Ferguson, a domestic servant, at Fallows Terrace, Strathmartine, Dundee in April 1885, the marriage certificate showed both to have been born in 1859. Later passenger manifests from when he traveled to the United States show a birth year of 1863 which is clearly incorrect. After his marriage there must have been a spell in Edinburgh as the couple’s first two children were born there.

Joseph had served in the army with the Royal Scots Fusiliers from 1878 and was promoted to sergeant in 1880. He left in February 1885 and was transferred to the Reserve but was almost immediately again mobilised in May of that year, just after getting married. He served in Zululand and Lekukuni in 1889 and previously Transvaal in 1880-81.

He was appointed professional at Nairn in 1890 and already, at the start of the 1891 season, Golf reported that ‘since the ground has been placed under the superintendence of Mr Dalgliesh, the course has been immensely improved and is now in first-rate condition’.

In 1892 he reduced the professional record for the course by three strokes with a round of 70. He set a new record of 74 for the extended course, improving Horace Hutchinson’s mark by one, in 1894.

While professional at Nairn he designed a second course in Nairn on land donated by Sir Alexander Dunbar (hence now Nairn Dunbar). It was opened by Lady Dunbar, assisted by the Solicitor-General for England on Queen Victoria’s 80th Birthday on 24 May 1899. ‘The artisan may now engage in the pastime’ trumpeted The Northern Scot. Maybe, but he was not getting anywhere near the opening. No place for Dalgliesh at the ceremony let alone the luncheon and the first match over the new links was Sir Robert Finlay and Mr A T Lawrence QC followed by another 18 couples including the Provost, Sir Alexander Dunbar and the Rev A Bissett competing for a medal donated by Provost Dallas.

He also laid out the “new” Muiryshade course at Forres and he played in an exhibition match at the opening of that course in 1904 with Harry Vardon, James Braid and Jack White.

He played in the Open Championship regularly between 1892 and 1905, making the cut for all four rounds on three occasions.

His own course at Nairn was often visited by Open Champions. He played 36 holes against Braid in 1892 losing 8 down and against Vardon in 1899. J H Taylor and Sandy Herd came in June 1911. Although the usual practice was for one local player to join forces with one of the visiting professionals in opposition to another teamed with the other visitor, Joseph Dalgliesh and amateur Mr Guthrie Harvey took on the two champions, They lost 3 and 2 but a creditable performance.

Son William was already a golf professional in the United States, having emigrated in 1911, and Joseph travelled to see him, arriving in NYC on 24 June 1912 aboard the Caledonia from Glasgow. Once in the US the Dalglieshes (variously spelled Dalglish, Dalgliesh and Dalgleish) are difficult to disentangle. Some contemporary reports confuse Joseph with James Dalgleish at Shinnecock Hills and later Kansas. Other newspaper reports, and current histories, confuse this unrelated James either with Joseph or with Joseph’s son James C Dalgleish who came to America the following year.

Joseph appears to have stayed for the season as afterwards he went back to Nairn and returned for the following season with young James in New York on the Caledonia on 14 April 1913 giving “Troy, NY” as his previous residence in USA. The County Club of Troy did not open its doors until 1925 so my best guess is that he was employed at the Van Schaick Island Country Club (then called the Island Country Club) in the Hudson river just across from Troy during the three years I believe he was there. After winter in Scotland he returned again in 1914, arriving at NY on the Cameronia on 7 April. Getting ever younger, he was only aged 50 on the passenger list!

Through all this, wife Margaret remained in Nairn.

Joseph was called up potentially to serve in the First World War and the War Department paid the cost of this 57 year old’s journey from Chicago to Nairn in December 1914. He attested, was re-appointed Sergeant, went nowhere with the army though appears on the Nairnshire Roll of Honour as a ‘sergeant-instructor’ and was discharged again two and a bit years later.

Remaining in Scotland he died in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on 3 February 1941.

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